1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric junction box which functions to distribute a power supply and protect a circuit.
2. Related Art
An electric junction box is installed on a vehicle such a motor vehicle for distribution of a power supply and protection of a circuit. As a conventional electric junction box, there has been known an electric junction box as shown in FIG. 5 (for example, refer to JP-A-2004-47189).
As is shown in FIG. 5, an electric junction box disclosed in JP-A-2004-47189 is a fuse box in which a battery fuse 110 and an input bus bar 115 and an output bus bar 116 which are connected to terminals of the battery fuse 110 are accommodated in an interior of a case which is made up of a lower cover 112, an upper cover 113 and a case main body 114.
An input terminal 110b of the battery fuse 110 is laid to overlap a distal end of the input bus bar 115 with a threaded portion 115a provided at a distal end portion of the input bus bar 115 in such a manner as to project therefrom passed through a through hole provided in the input terminal 110b, so as to be fastened in place with a nut N. Similarly, an output terminal 110c of the battery fuse 110 is laid to overlap a distal end of the output bus bar 116 with a threaded portion 116a provided at a distal end portion of the output bus bar 116 in such a manner as to project therefrom passed through a through hole provided in the output terminal 110c, so as to be fastened in place with a nut N.
Then, a battery terminal 120 connected under pressure to a distal end of an electric wire W1 of a power supply circuit has a pair of fastening pieces 122, 123 which fit on a battery post 102 which is provided on an upper surface of a battery box 101 in such a manner as to project therefrom, and distal end portions of these fastening pieces 122, 123 are overlapped on a connecting piece 115b provided at a proximal end portion of the input bus bar 115, so as to be fastened with a bolt and a nut. In addition, a terminal 125 of an electric wire W2 which connects to a relay box is laid to overlap a proximal end portion of the output bus bar 116 with a threaded portion 116b provided on the proximal end portion of the output bus bar 116 in such a manner as to project therefrom passed through a through hole provided in the terminal 125, so as to be fastened with a nut N.
Note that conventionally, there have been known various types of fuses which are adapted to be fastened to bus bars or the like with bolts and nuts (for example, refer to JP-A-2001-110297, JP-A-2000-113803, JP-A-11-312454, JP-A-11-213853 and JP-A-8-7743).
In the electric junction box disclosed in JP-A-2004-47189, in addition to the threaded portion 115a and the nut N which function as a fastening member for electrically connecting the input terminal 110b of the battery fuse 110 to the input bus bar 115, the bolt and the nut N are provided as a fastening member for electrically connecting the battery terminal 120 of the electric wire W1 of the power supply circuit to the input bus bar 115. Similarly, in addition to the threaded portion 116a and the nut N which function as a fastening member for electrically connecting the output terminal 110c of the battery fuse 110 to the output bus bar 116, the bolt and the nut N are provided as a fastening member for electrically connecting the terminal 125 of the electric wire W2 which connects to the relay box to the output bus bar 116.
Thus, in the electric junction box disclosed in JP-A-2004-47189, the exclusive fastening members are necessary to electrically connect the input terminal 110b and the output terminal 110c of the battery fuse 110, as well as the battery terminal 120 of the electric wire W1 and the terminal 125 of the electric wire W2 to the input bus bar 115 and the output bus bar 116, respectively, and the number of manhours necessary to fasten the fastening members is increased, these having constituted a root cause for an increase in the production costs of the electric junction box 111.
In addition, in the electric junction box disclosed in JP-A-2004-47189, since the exclusive fastening members are provided as has been described above, a wide space has had to be occupied by the fastening members in the interior of the case, and the number of fuses and other electric components that can be accommodated in the interior of the case has had to be reduced.